Knowing when to stop

pricesteve
pricesteve Posts: 39 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm currently 177 lbs, 6'0" tall, BMI 23.9, down from a high of 308 lbs, BMI 41.7 from last summer.
I'm a 44 y/o male and as I approached my original goal of 175 lbs I have slowly reduced my daily deficit target
from 2 lbs/week to 1 lb/week loss to be realistic and to keep realistic.

My body fat reduction has been pretty uneven, I have bony hips, ribs and neck now, but still have a bit of a belly and thighs, though some of that is probably excess skin left over from my larger life. I don't have much faith in resistive measures of body fat %, but my scales tell me I am still at 20.1% BF.

I'm looking for some pointers as to how to proceed from here. I have no desire to be a bean pole or 'ripped', but having been overweight since birth, knowing where to stop and what I should aim for at my age is pretty hard to judge.

I suspect the answer to my question is move from Cardio (Swimming) to Strength training to reshape without losing more weight, but I am finding it difficult to adjust from the 'lose weight' mindset.

Replies

  • litchfieldd
    litchfieldd Posts: 43 Member
    Interested in this too...
  • warrio1010
    warrio1010 Posts: 31 Member
    First off, I wouldn't rely on scales to tell you your BF, as it can be very inaccurate. My preferred simple method for judging BF is simply to google 'body fat chart men' or something like that, and compare your body to the pictures, with this you can get a pretty good idea.

    177 at 6ft seems a healthy weight, so if you're happy with your physique aesthetically and health wise then just go to maintenance. You could start weight training if you so wish, but just pick an exercise that you enjoy, if any. Then if you want to cut more in the future you can, and it will be a breeze to cut 10 or so lbs after cutting over 100, just make sure you keep tabs on your weight as it can creep up when no longer mentally focused.

    Also congrats on the epic weight loss.

    EDIT: this image is a good BF one: http://athleanx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Body-Fat-Infographic3.jpg I think the 20-24 range is more towards 24 and the 16 to 19 is more towards 16 as there seems a huge difference between the two, but it just gives a vague idea of how to judge one's BF
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    I'm currently 177 lbs, 6'0" tall, BMI 23.9, down from a high of 308 lbs, BMI 41.7 from last summer.
    I'm a 44 y/o male and as I approached my original goal of 175 lbs I have slowly reduced my daily deficit target
    from 2 lbs/week to 1 lb/week loss to be realistic and to keep realistic.

    My body fat reduction has been pretty uneven, I have bony hips, ribs and neck now, but still have a bit of a belly and thighs, though some of that is probably excess skin left over from my larger life. I don't have much faith in resistive measures of body fat %, but my scales tell me I am still at 20.1% BF.

    I'm looking for some pointers as to how to proceed from here. I have no desire to be a bean pole or 'ripped', but having been overweight since birth, knowing where to stop and what I should aim for at my age is pretty hard to judge.

    I suspect the answer to my question is move from Cardio (Swimming) to Strength training to reshape without losing more weight, but I am finding it difficult to adjust from the 'lose weight' mindset.
    This is interesting as I'm trying to slow my weightloss at present. I'm around 10 pounds from a 'normal' BMI from a BMI of 46. I've never had a goal weight I've always said I'll hit a normal BMI and see how it feels. My overall view is to be able to achieve what I want to and feel happy the way I look. I think a lot of it will be on personal judgement. If you want the look that lifting may give you go for it but if your happy the way you are go into maintenance.

    I totally get you with the losing weight mindset. I'm upping my calories to slow things and it's sometimes difficult to tell yourself that you need to eat more.
  • h7463
    h7463 Posts: 626 Member
    Hello! Congrats on your success so far!
    Consider yourself as work in progress, or better, your own little science project. This way of thinking has been fun for my personal fitness goal. It's going to take time until your body shape-shifts into something that you can sustain with nutrition and exercise.
    I have a link here, this is just an example, and maybe you can find a device such as this close to your home. This is so far the most reliable way to determine a person's body composition.

    Good luck!
    http://www.recsports.vt.edu/fitness/assessments/bod-pod
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    Congratulations on the loss! I have slipped into maintenance and feel like I have a tough of belly fat left. Scale says I am 17% BF FWIW. I am adding some protein and working my abs as I continue my cardio that I love. So I am really just doing the same thing but not trying to lose but trying to move things around. My goal now is to attempt a six pack. My reality goal is to be fit healthy and maintain.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    Congratulations on getting to your goal! And for not turning into a body builder type. ;-) You probably have to start eating more, and if you've only been doing cardio, start including some weight training and cut back on the cardio. You won't become muscle bound by doing weight training. There are some guys in my body pump class which is a combination of strength training and cardio and is a lot of fun.

    Maintenence is hard to get your head into. It's sort of a non-goal (staying where you are). I had to start thinking about other things I wanted to do and make other goals.

    Best of luck.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    I'm looking for some pointers as to how to proceed from here. I have no desire to be a bean pole or 'ripped', but having been overweight since birth, knowing where to stop and what I should aim for at my age is pretty hard to judge.

    I suspect the answer to my question is move from Cardio (Swimming) to Strength training to reshape without losing more weight, but I am finding it difficult to adjust from the 'lose weight' mindset.

    It would have been a really good idea to do resistance training all along to help preserve lean mass. You won't magically gain a lot of muscle or look ripped whether you are still in a deficit or maintaining. I highly suggest starting strength training immediately. If you are worried about losing more weight change the goal on here to maintain and see where your weight levels off after about a month. If you still feel you have some fat to lose change it to half a pound a week. Also, check out the maintaining section for others in the same boat.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    I'm currently 177 lbs, 6'0" tall, BMI 23.9, down from a high of 308 lbs, BMI 41.7 from last summer.
    I'm a 44 y/o male and as I approached my original goal of 175 lbs I have slowly reduced my daily deficit target
    from 2 lbs/week to 1 lb/week loss to be realistic and to keep realistic.

    My body fat reduction has been pretty uneven, I have bony hips, ribs and neck now, but still have a bit of a belly and thighs, though some of that is probably excess skin left over from my larger life. I don't have much faith in resistive measures of body fat %, but my scales tell me I am still at 20.1% BF.

    I'm looking for some pointers as to how to proceed from here. I have no desire to be a bean pole or 'ripped', but having been overweight since birth, knowing where to stop and what I should aim for at my age is pretty hard to judge.

    I suspect the answer to my question is move from Cardio (Swimming) to Strength training to reshape without losing more weight, but I am finding it difficult to adjust from the 'lose weight' mindset.
    Congratulations on your weight loss!

    I too was fat my whole life (seriously, the doctor told mom to put me on a diet when I was an infant), and I've been at goal since January. I lost 79 pounds about 10 years ago, gained 30 of it back, and last year came to MFP with the goal of ridding that 30 pounds. Instead, I lost 42 and am now at a healthy weight for the first time in my life.

    My deficit was so small that it was easy for me to go into maintenance. I purposely rejected that old diet mindset, which helped me when I reached my goal.
  • segovm
    segovm Posts: 512 Member
    Personally I would just start adding a little bit of body weight stuff into your routine if you are close to a good weight for you and don't want to get hooked on spending days in the gym. When I was skinny in my twenties, I used to just get up and hit the floor for push ups, sit ups, dips and then jump on the bar for a few pull up. I probably spent fifteen or twenty minutes a morning on it and with a good diet that is a pretty good start and balancing things out.

    Ideally, anything you do with diet and exercise is something you can do for now on. If that's a few push ups in the morning that's better than most the population of the world so do it.
  • pricesteve
    pricesteve Posts: 39 Member
    Thanks for all the replies. I think a couple of strength sessions a week to replace some of the cardio is a good place to start and as I up the calories to maintenance levels I'll adjust the balance to something I can live with long term. I've been told to expect a 5 lbs bounce back as my body restocks its reserves of energy after a long deficit, so will have to try and live with that and watch the inches and not the pounds for a while.

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